Black Bear Film Festival says it has no present relationship with gunmaker

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MILFORD — Back in 2016, the Black Bear Film Festival thanked Frank Harris of Kahr Arms for being its biggest business sponsor that year.

The relationship has since changed. A Feb. 18 post on the Festival's Facebook page stated: "The Black Bear Film Festival presently has no relationship with KAHR ARMS."

Kahr Arms has recently been at the center of the gun debate locally. The gun warehouse and retailer that has taken up residence in Pike County's industrial park is linked to a church recently tagged by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit organization that tracks extremist groups in the U.S., as a hate group. And the church and business are bringing to Pike County a four-day celebration of assault rifles in the wake of the high school slaughter in Parkland, Fla. (See related story, "Local church to hold four-day celebration of assault rifles.")

According to Will Voelkel, the festival's former executive director, Kahr Arms donated $15,000 over three years: $5,000 in 2015, $7,500 in 2016, and $2,500 in 2017.

The current director, Robert Keiber, could not be reached for comment by press time.